Strange Botfellows
by QuickStrike15
Summary: Rattrap and Botanica are on the lookout for sparks, and so are Vehicon generals. Can these two put their differences aside, and beat the bad guys? Fifth in the series.


"STRANGE BOTFELLOWS"  
  
WRITTEN BY  
QUICKSTRIKE15  
(TIEANBRICE@AOL.COM)  
  
Rattrap and Botanica make it to their assigned region.  
RATTRAP: "Well, eh, here we are."  
BOTANICA: "Yes. But this is nothing more than a Vehicon junkyard. Why would any of the sparks want to come here? It holds such...negative energy."  
RATTRAP: "Sparks are funny that way. Keep in mind they ain't exactly got brains." Rattrap scurries ahead, as Botanica gives him a dirty look. "Ya comin'?" Botanica follows, as Rattrap climbs over large piles of Vehicon scrap metal. "Man, this just goes to show ya that makin' da perfect Vehicon soldier is harder than it seems."  
BOTANICA: "Rattrap, you do realize that these are the melted-down bodies of Cybertron's citizens!"  
RATTRAP: "I know."  
BOTANICA: "Then why don't you care?"  
RATTRAP: "Hey, eh, don't tell me what I care about! I know my mission, and it's to save the people in here, and out there."  
BOTANICA: "So what was your little crack about sparks not having minds?!"  
RATTRAP: "They don't!"  
BOTANICA: "The only thing that drives a spark is its mind! If sparks didn't think, how did your old comrades return?!"  
RATTRAP: "They had the spirit left in 'em. That's all they needed."  
BOTANICA: "You know, I didn't question Optimus' decision to place us together on this quest, but I knew the full time that you would be impossible!"  
RATTRAP: "Ya don't think I feel the same way?!"  
BOTANICA: "Well, that's good to hear!"  
RATTRAP: "So was your little statement, toots!"  
BOTANICA: "Rattrap, go home. I'll find the sparks myself!" She stomps away angrily.  
RATTRAP: "Oh, no, ya don't! If you're stayin', I'm stayin'! And I'll find the sparks before ya! Ha!" Rattrap walks in the other direction.  
  
***  
  
Rattrap sniffs around for clues.  
RATTRAP: "There's gotta be something here that can help me find those sparks. Maybe a little time spent in my full metal jacket. I am transformed!" He transforms to robot mode. "There. Now, maybe I can get a bead on those bright little suckers wit' my scanner." He takes a piece of Vehicon scrap, and drills into it with his tail. "C'mon, baby." His scanner lights up. "Let's see some ion trails, miniature pulses, changes in immediate atmospheric conditions, anything." He waits a little longer. "Man, nothin'!" He de-activates his scanner, and tosses the scrap metal away. "Great! There ain't been no sparks around here. Optimus lead us into a dead end. How many times have I trusted that galvanized gorilla, just to come up empty? Man, I could be working on some kind a' electro-magnetic pulse bomb that could fry Megatron completely, so he could leave us and this planet the heck alone. But no, I'm stuck in the middle of no better than a graveyard, with that psycho houseplant. Could my day get any worse?"  
"Perhaps."  
RATTRAP: "Who da heck said dat?" Towering above Rattrap as he wheels around, stands a green and pink cycle drone.  
MOTORANTULAS: "Your old friend, vermin!"  
RATTRAP: "No way. You sound just like...Tarantulas!"  
MOTORANTULAS: "You may call me Motorantulas, or if you prefer, the bringer of your destruction!"  
RATTRAP: "Oh, man! So what gave me away, my staying in robot mode, or my big mouth?"  
MOTORANTULAS: "Would you believe both at the same time?"  
RATTRAP: "Actually, yeah. But hey, feel free to take the time ta look around, get a feel for da scenery, and not vape me immediately!"  
MOTORANTULAS: "No thanks, already did. Cybertron doesn't hold the same charm for me as it used to."  
RATTRAP: "As in you not gettin' to lay waste to it?"  
MOTORANTULAS: "You don't miss a beat, do you, mouse?"  
RATTRAP: "Hey, once you're on top of da game, it does ya good not to fall off."  
MOTORANTULAS: "Indeed."  
RATTRAP: "So, are we gonna stand here all day? Who's gonna make the first move?"  
MOTORANTULAS: "I'm still deciding."  
RATTRAP: "'Cause once it's on, it's on."  
MOTORANTULAS: "Yes, of course it is."  
RATTRAP: "And be warned, I've been around these parts for a good long time now, I've probably got some moves ya ain't never seen before."  
MOTORANTULAS: "And I'm loving my new body. So perhaps I've got some...new moves of my own."  
RATTRAP: "Well, ain't dat nice."  
MOTORANTULAS: "So what's the real problem, vermin? It's not like I don't remember you. You're the same mouse of action you used to be, are you not? You'd have guns drawn and blazing by now. There's something holding you back. Is it...fear?"  
RATTRAP: "Just strategizing. Like I said, it's been a while. I've got some new ideas on how to fight."  
MOTORANTULAS: "Well, it is becoming rather boring, our tête-à-tête. So what do you say I count to three, and blast you?"  
RATTRAP: "Can I count?"  
MOTORANTULAS: "Feel free."  
RATTRAP: "All right den. One...two...five!" Rattrap leaps forward, and clobbers Motorantulas with a fist in the face. "Which is how many knuckles you just swallowed!" Rattrap burns rubber escaping from the new Vehicon.  
MOTORANTULAS: "Blast it! He's as wily as ever. But I've always been quite wily myself. Now it's time to play a little game of Mouse Trap." He follows after Rattrap.  
  
***  
  
Botanica looks around, still fuming from the argument with Rattrap.  
BOTANICA: "Ooh, that mouse makes me so angry! Why does he just shut off his mind to everything around him? I've never known anyone so arrogant and ignorant in all my life! There is just something about that rodent, something I seriously do not like. When I get back to base, I will be sure to tell Optimus that--" She stops herself. "Botanica, look at the bigger picture here. You have a job to complete, for the good citizens of Cybertron. They need you now, so you cannot just think about your own petty problems. Rattrap is a member of your team, and like it or not, you must work as well with him as with anyone else." Just then, a green and gold jetplane drone hovers above.  
"Well, darlin', I'll work as well with ya as ya want!"  
BOTANICA: "Who are you?!"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "Call me Quickstrike!"  
BOTANICA: "A new Vehicon general?"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "That's right, dumplin' bot! And I've got a hankerin' for flattenin' Maximals!"  
BOTANICA: "Look out! There's a robot-eating plant behind you!"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "No, there ain't." Botanica touches the ground, and a giant fly trap grows behind Quickstrike.  
BOTANICA: "Now there is."  
QUICKSTRIKE: "What in tarnation?!" He turns around, and the fly trap latches onto his face. He screams, as Botanica runs for it.  
BOTANICA: "I've got to warn Rattrap!" Quickstrike struggles to pull away from plant a little longer, before blasting it from the roots. He does it as he jerks away, and falls flat on his back. He then pulls the plant off of his face.  
QUICKSTRIKE: "That tares it! I'm prunin' that there plant!"  
  
***  
  
Rattrap and Botanica run from their pursuers, and eventually meet up.  
BOTANICA: "Rattrap, I'm so glad I found you."  
RATTRAP: "You, too. I got somethin' ta tell you."  
They both speak at the same time. "There's a Vehicon general chasing me!" They stop for a second. "You, too?!"  
BOTANICA: "They must have been staking us out!"  
RATTRAP: "Or, I could have tipped them off by converting to robot mode."  
BOTANICA: "Rattrap!"  
RATTRAP: "I was tryin' to find the sparks. After a while, I kinda forgot."  
BOTANICA: "Well, we'll deal with that later. Right now, we've got to get away from the Vehicons."  
RATTRAP: "Which way do we go?"  
MOTORANTULAS: "Out of the frying pan, and into the fire. Heh-heh-heh." In their vehicle modes, the Vehicons surround the Maximals.  
RATTRAP: "Oh, man!"  
BOTANICA: "I don't understand. When did Megatron create new Vehicon generals?"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "That's not fer your pretty little ears, ma'am."  
RATTRAP: "Great, another blast from the past!"  
BOTANICA: "Another? Who are they, Rattrap?"  
RATTRAP: "Allow me to introduce you to Motorantulas and Quickstrike, semi-loyal followers of Megs durin' da Beast Wars."  
BOTANICA: "It's not possible!"  
MOTORANTULAS: "I would believe you if I weren't living it myself."  
QUICKSTRIKE: "And now that I's got a second chance, I'm 'a make up fer all da tailgate-whooping I missed out on up dere!"  
RATTRAP: "All right, Botanica, get ready."  
BOTANICA: "Ready to what?"  
RATTRAP: "Pray." He gulps.  
MOTORANTULAS: "Motorantulas, Overdrive!"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "Quickstrike, Afterburn!" They transform to robot mode.  
RATTRAP: "Stay right here."  
BOTANICA: "Rattrap, what are you doing?" Rattrap leaps into the fray, and tackles Motorantulas. He grabs him around the throat, as Motorantulas stands back up. Rattrap then swings around, and covers his eyes.  
MOTORANTULAS: "Blasted Maximal! Let go of my optic sensors!"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "I'll help ya out there, Moto." He starts firing at Rattrap, and Motorantulas dances around the shots.  
MOTORANTULAS: "What are you doing, you fool?!"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "Gettin' rid o' da rat fer ya!"  
MOTORANTULAS: "Well find another way!" Botanica watches, as Rattrap motions with his head to leave. Botanica nervously agrees, and runs off.  
RATTRAP: "Good. Now I can cut loose." Quickstrike goes to grab Rattrap, but he slides off of Motorantulas, and skates around his one leg to escape. Quickstrike accidentally grabs Motorantulas' neck, and they both fall to the ground.  
MOTORANTULAS: "Bah! You're as incompetent as the day you were manufactured!"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "Hey, I tried, didn't I?"  
MOTORANTULAS: "We can't let the vermin escape! Or that weed, wherever she is. Wide spread search, do it now!" Motorantulas converts to vehicle mode, and speeds away.  
QUICKSTRIKE: "Well, that's hardly the attitude I'd expect from a traitorous Predacon." Motorantulas patches into his Com-Link.  
MOTORANTULAS: "I have my reasons for what I do. Now if you don't hurry up and follow me, I'll rip out your CPU and feed it to you!"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "Well, you ain't got to get all huffy-like." He transforms to vehicle mode, and soars above the giant scrap heap.  
  
***  
  
Rattrap looks around for a place to hide.  
RATTRAP: "Oh, man, what did I get myself into?! I don't have the firepower to take on one Vehicon general, let alone two! Man, oh, man, oh, man, I've got to be more clever and creative then I've ever been before!"  
BOTANICA: "Not necessarily." Botanica pokes her head out from behind a nearby junk pile.  
RATTRAP: "Botanica, I told ya to get out of here!"  
BOTANICA: "And I did."  
RATTRAP: "I meant out of this sector, out of this grid! If they find you, they're gonna tear limb from tree limb!"  
BOTANICA: "The same goes for you."  
RATTRAP: "I can handle it."  
BOTANICA: "And you're implying I can't?!"  
RATTRAP: "No! I'm just saying that if one of us has to make it through this, it should be you."  
BOTANICA: "Rattrap, I--"  
RATTRAP: "Please don't. Just get gone."  
BOTANICA: "I can't leave you behind. If Optimus found out--"  
RATTRAP: "Forget Optimus!"  
BOTANICA: "If Optimus found out, he'd once again have to teach me the meaning of teamwork. Look, we were chosen to travel together on this mission, and if I left you behind, I'd be leaving behind a part of myself."  
RATTRAP: "Because we're a team."  
BOTANICA: "That too."  
RATTRAP: "So, you really--"  
BOTANICA: "We can't deny we have feelings for each other, Rattrap. And we've tried hard, very hard. But there's something between us, and that something keeps letting us know it."  
RATTRAP: "Now I know what it is about you that I like so much. You're as stubborn as I am." Botanica smiles at him.  
MOTORANTULAS: "I've found the Maximals! Quickstrike, divert to my location!"  
RATTRAP: "Here we go!"  
BOTANICA: "Rattrap, now! I am transformed!"  
RATTRAP: "I am transformed!" They transform to robot mode.  
MOTORANTULAS: "So, this time you choose to fight instead of running away. That's good...for me! Motorantulas, Overdrive!" He pops a wheelie toward them, and transforms, spinning on that one wheel. After he comes out of the spin, he begins firing at them.  
BOTANICA: "We can do it if we work together!"  
RATTRAP: "Readin' ya loud and clear, sister!" He backs up at full speed, as Botanica jumps into the air, off of his shoulders, and extends two vines that wrap around Motorantulas, pinning his arms to his sides.  
MOTORANTULAS: "Heh. Like I didn't prepare for this." He sits down, touches his laser guns to the ground, fires them, and his body shoots into the air.  
BOTANICA: "I can hold him, I can hold him."  
RATTRAP: "Yes, you can." Botanica is able to freeze her vines in mid-air, trapping Motorantulas in the sky.  
MOTORANTULAS: "Let me down from here, you weed witch!"  
BOTANICA: "If you insist." She retracts her vines, and Motorantulas plummets to the ground.  
MOTORANTULAS: "No, no, no!" Quickstrike swoops in. "Saved!" He is hit with a seed grenade, and he begins to descend as well. "Oh, no." He covers his eyes, as they both fall into a large junk pile.  
BOTANICA: "Nice throw."  
RATTRAP: "Well, aim is one of my strong points." The Vehicons scramble out of the junk heap.  
MOTORANTULAS: "You're not through with us yet, Maximals!"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "Yeah, I still ain't got in my daily keister-kicking on ya varmints!"  
RATTRAP: "Quickstrike, yours was always the keister gettin' kicked!"  
QUICKSTRIKE: "I don't need ya remindin' me, ya little idgit!" He uses what little rocket power he has left to charge toward Rattrap, but as he prepares for a tackle, Rattrap jumps to the side, and Quickstrike slams his face into the ground.  
RATTRAP: "That had to hurt."  
MOTORANTULAS: "Not as much as this will!" Motorantulas begins firing at the Maximals. Botanica runs over to Rattrap, and puts up a flower petal shield, much like the one she uses to transform. Rattrap looks around.  
RATTRAP: "Cool."  
BOTANICA: "You think that's cool, watch this!" She touches the floor, and a giant vine shoots out from the ground, and swats Motorantulas, knocking him senseless. It then picks him up, and tosses him right on top of Quickstrike.  
RATTRAP: "You were right, that was cooler. And all at no risk to ourselves. You are one surprising lady."  
BOTANICA: "And you are one brave mouse." She kisses him on the cheek.  
RATTRAP: "Oh, well, I--" Botanica takes down the shield, and they both see sparks right in front of them. "Where did these come from?"  
BOTANICA: "They must have been attracted by the showing of all the nature."  
RATTRAP: "Incredible. Sparks never cease to amaze me. Now, let's get 'em together." Rattrap takes the bag off of his shoulders, and retrieves spark chambers. They collect the sparks, revert to beast mode, and are off.  
BOTANICA: "Well, that was quite the adventure."  
RATTRAP: "Yeah. Who knew you were a decent fighter."  
BOTANICA: "What's that supposed to mean?"  
RATTRAP: "Well, are you denying that you stayed in the orchard every time we were putting our lives on the line?!"  
BOTANICA: "That was necessary for our survival!"  
RATTRAP: "Yeah, maybe yours."  
BOTANICA: "You are unbelievable. No wonder your beast mode is a mouse. You'll never be a man!"  
RATTRAP: "Hey! Take that back!"  
BOTANICA: "Not until you take back what you said about me!"  
RATTRAP: "Then I guess you're not taking it back!"  
BOTANICA: "You are impossible! I should have let you fry back there!"  
RATTRAP: "I coulda handled myself."  
BOTANICA: "And you're so arrogant!"  
RATTRAP: "At least I ain't snooty!"  
BOTANICA: "You think I'm snooty?! Well, you've got another thing coming, Mr..." Their voices fade out as they head for home. 


End file.
